- From: Jim Gettys <jg@pa.dec.com>
- Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 11:05:55 -0800
- To: http-wg@cuckoo.hpl.hp.com
Larry is worried we don't say enough explicitly in security considerations on the threats that proxy caching represent... I just drafted and added this text to Rev-02 in preparation (expect by the end of next week). - Jim 15.7 Proxy Caching By their very nature, HTTP proxies and proxy caches are men-in-the-middle, and open up clients to men-in-the-middle attacks. Compromise of the systems on which the proxies run can result in both serious security and privacy problems. Operators of HTTP proxy caches should treat the systems on which the proxies run as very sensitive systems, since both personal information and security related information usually present in the proxies, and all sorts of potential attacks on clients are possible from such systems. Log information gathered at such proxies often contains highly sensitive personal information, and should be carefully guarded and appropriate guidelines for use developed and followed. (Section 15.1.1). Users of proxy caches need to be aware that they are no more trustworthy than the people who run the proxy caches; HTTP itself cannot solve this problem. -- Jim Gettys Industry Standards and Consortia Digital Equipment Corporation Visting Scientist, World Wide Web Consortium, M.I.T. http://www.w3.org/People/Gettys/ jg@w3.org, jg@pa.dec.com
Received on Thursday, 12 February 1998 11:09:14 UTC